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In Catamount hockey lore, it remains the program's most improbable victory.

It was March 28, 2009, and the game was an NCAA regional final in Bridgeport, Conn. The prize awaiting the victor was a trip to the Frozen Four in Washington, D.C.

An underdog but incredibly scrappy Air Force team nursed a 1-0 lead into the third period against a University of Vermont team coming off an upset of Yale 24 hours earlier. The Falcons fell behind 2-1 but tied the score midway through the final period of regulation.

After one 20-minute sudden death period passed without resolution, the Catamounts and Falcons charged into a second pressurized period. Briefly, the Vermont bench thought the Catamounts had won on a Dan Lawson slap shot but play surged on until a whistle minutes later brought the action to a halt.

Referees Todd Anderson and Marco Hunt promptly retired to the video replay area and not so promptly poured through seemingly endless replays while most fans had to speculate on the reason for the delay.

"That game in particular was pretty surreal," recalled UVM coach Kevin Sneddon recently. "We felt like we had a good opportunity. We were playing very well. We had taken down a very good Yale team the night before. We knew Air Force was an extremely hard working team and that it was going to be tough coming back to earth after the Yale win."

It might have been even tougher awaiting the referees' decision.

"Standing on the bench, it was for 12 minutes but it felt like two days," Sneddon said. "The whole time you're thinking about, well, if this is in, this is what it means."

"This" was the object of the officials' scrutiny: Did UVM defenseman Dan Lawson hit a slap shot so hard it with through, not over, the goal net behind Falcon goalie Andrew Volkening?

"I had one assistant, Willie Mitchell, cheering, 'Hey, we're going to the Frozen Four.' I had the other assistant, John Micheletto, saying, 'I don't know if that went in'." Sneddon said.

Thanks to instant replay, ironically instituted after Vermont lost a 1996 Frozen Four semifinal on an illegal hand pass, the referees confirmed that Lawson's shot was a good goal; end of game, UVM victory and the Catamounts' second Frozen Four appearance, which ended with 5-4 loss to Boston University.

All the Falcon and Catamounts players have long since moved on but head coaches Sneddon and Frank Serratore as well as assistants Terry Lovelette (UVM) and Andy Berg (AF) might have a flashback or two when Vermont (13-3-1; 7-3-1 HEA) and Air Force (5-10-2; 4-5-1 Atlantic) square off in the second game of the Sheraton/TD Bank Catamount Cup at Gutterson Fieldhouse on Sunday evening. It will be the first meeting of the Catamounts and the Falcons since the Lawson game.

Hockey East rivals Providence (9-6-1; 6-4-0 HEA) and Massachusetts (4-12-0; 1-9-0 HEA) open the classic-style tourney with a non-league game at 4 p.m. Sunday, the Falcons play the Minutemen, now coached by Micheletto, at 4 p.m., followed by the tourney finale, a non-league meeting between the Friars and the Catamounts.

Air Force has struggled in non-conference play, going 1-5-1, but has a win over Colorado College and an overtime loss to North Dakota to its credit. The Catamounts are midway through an eight-game stretch of non-conference games, sporting a 6-0-0 non-league record and an overall win streak of six.

"They're an aggressive team," Sneddon said of the Falcons. "Their defensemen are very active both on the forecheck as well as in the offensive zone. They're very disciplined. They have skill; they have speed and good size.

"They've maybe not had as great a first half as they're used to having … but they have the potential in the second half to make a good run," Sneddon said.

Ice chips: Fr D Ori Abramson has joined the Catamounts and could possibly see game time at some point this weekend … Fs Tom Forgione and Malcolm McKinney are still sidelined by injury as is D Mitch Ferguson … "We have a couple of others being evaluated right now," Sneddon said, adding they were considered day-to-day … "There will be some changes (in the lineup) … out of necessity," Sneddon said … In the two Hockey East games earlier in Providence, the Friars won the opener 3-0 and UVM rebounded with a 2-1 second-night win …

Correspondent Ted Ryan covers UVM hockey for The Burlington Free Press. Contact him at TedRyanVT@aol.com and follow him on Twitter at @TedRyanVT.